The Right Way to Argue About Corona Online!
It all started when Professor Pervez Hoodbhye wrote an article on Dawn titled ‘Corona – our debt to Darwin’ where he was raising this point that how biological science is the hope to control this Corona pandemic.
Thanks to biological science — the foundation of which was laid by Charles Darwin — the coronavirus will eventually turn out to be a deadly but controllable affair. Its final worldwide death toll may run into many tens, or perhaps hundreds, of thousands. Still, compared to the toll exacted by pre-scientific era plagues, this will be small. Your life may well be saved by some yet to be invented drug or vaccine. All beneficiaries of modern medicine should surely forgive Darwin for his supposed transgressions.
Pervez Hoodbhye
What’s promising about Hoodbhye is that he uses science, logic and objectivity to look at the things rather than claiming that religion will somehow solve things. He tries to educate an illiterate nation who trolls him a lot on his social media page. However, he continues to do the good work.
The Logical Criticism on Hoodbhye
Today, was somewhat different. We came across someone who went after Hoodbhye with scientific facts and tried to prove him wrong. His name was Daniel Haqiqatjou who provided detailed arguments on how and why he believes Darwin’s theory to be obsolete. He referred to various researches, scientists and researchers who share his beliefs. This debate was in light of the current Corona Virus situation. According to Daniel Haqiaqtjou, as a Muslim, he firmly believed that any such evolutionary change can only be God’s work and must only end with His will. Here is the original post he shared:
The Logical Rebuttal
Under his post, Arif Jan wrote a long reply which refuted Haqiqatjou’s argument on the redundancy of Darwin’s theory. Arif provided a counter argument, equally well-backed, loaded with references of books, researches and studies to prove otherwise. In his opinion, Haqiqatjou only picked references that went along his own claim. Have a look at Arif Jan’s counter argument in a post shared by Syed Muneeb Ali:
Who won this debate on Corona?
We would leave that to the audience who can read and decide who is right. What we loved was that how an argument was formed, refuted and countered with facts. This is the kind of evolution we wish to see on social media.
Also check out : #MoonControversy on social media
Remember that whenever you post anything online, it reflects you and the way you think. Validity of news and researching the facts before arriving at conclusion is the need of the hour. Corona Virus is rattling the global economy and we have no idea how much more damage it will do. One thing which we, as individuals can do is backup everything we say or post online with facts.
Another key thing which we loved was that the discussion was civil and to the point. The speakers spoke based on their scientific intellect and understanding. This debate is a fine example of how to argue online and turning these virtual battlefields into healthy and informative platforms!